Little to learn from lethargic Luxembourg game
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson reacts during the international friendly at the Stade de Luxembourg Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne
The old sporting adage that this game could be a cure for insomnia was not quite the situation for Tuesday’s end-of-season friendly against Luxembourg. In fact, it was much more serious than that, with loved ones of shut-eyed viewers of this game possibly required to check for life-signs.
Friendlies are never that serious of an affair but fans, especially those that make the effort to travel with the team, at least expect a measure of entertainment from the game. There was not enough to fill a postcard home from the Duchy on this occasion. Now to be fair to this team, we are talking about a game at the very end of a long season and just four days after a decent friendly in the Aviva against former African champions Senegal. And to add further context, the Irish coach Heimir Hallgrímsson did add a few new starters and returning players to the team leading to some untried combinations which often has the side-effect of sides being unsure of purpose.
Max O’Leary, with his first Irish start in goal, replaced the in news Caoimhín Kelleher. Cork’s Jake O’Brien replaced Matt Doherty at right-back, with Killian Phillips making his full senior debut in midfield. Evan Ferguson returned to start and had a relatively good game until tiredness late on showed he still has some work to be match fit. While Troy Parrott also returned to action to lead the line.
The less said about the first half the better, as aimless passing and poor marking defined much of the opening 45 minutes. An O’Leary full-stretch save and a Nathan Collin header off the upright being the only highlights in the opening period that was dominated by the Luxembourgers.
Those that stuck with the game into the next period were rewarded with a marginally better second half, with the Irish at least stepping up their defence and completing several passing phases.
The arrival of Jack Taylor and Adam Idah off the bench in the second half raised Ireland’s tempo but never to the extent that we looked like winning this, even though Taylor’s rasper off the underside of the Luxembourg crossbar might well have secured a rather fortuitous victory had it bounced down behind the line instead of in front of it.
It was clear that Hallgrímsson had expressed his frustration to the team at the break and if we are looking for good signs it showed that the players respected/feared him enough to get the finger out and provide some reaction in the second half. Kasey McAteer, fresh from scoring against Senegal, probably again showed the best of the squad’s improved hustle in the second half, pushing plenty balls into the opposition box, even if the team struggled to make most of the supply.
Jason Knight held the line well in midfield which was notable from a player straight out of a long season with Bristol City and has done his rumoured move to a Premier League side next season no harm at all.
The draw was probably the fair result. Mind you, the Lowland hosts may feel they should have done more with their overwhelming advantage with possession in the first half.
With the two drawn friendly matches, Hallgrímsson has the consolation that his unbeaten run with Ireland now has been extended to four games, and he will no doubt have noted that the side they managed to lead and take a credible 1-1 result from on Friday, went on to hockey England 3-1 at the City Ground in Nottingham. Senegal becoming the first African side to defeat an England men’s squad. You take your small ‘victories’ where you can get them.
Other than that, we will file the Luxembourg game in the better off forgotten cabinet and look forward to the coming World Cup qualifiers in September against Hungary and Armenia.
Do the June friendlies tell us anything of what to expect? Well, they say every game, no matter how bad, will provide some information to a good manager. I’m sure Hallgrímsson will pick up some details to add to what he will use come September. But apart from recommending that people should avoid using heavy equipment or driving a vehicle while watching end-of-season friendlies, it is hard to quantify.
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